


A Woman's Best Friend

by Chaotic_Kitten



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3 - Fandom
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Pregnancy, Post-Destroy Ending AU, Puppies, Shepard lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9125944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Kitten/pseuds/Chaotic_Kitten
Summary: Kaidan brings back home a puppy that he immediately wants to adopt. Shepard, on the other hand, isn't as enthusiastic about keeping the little canine as her husband is.





	

“No.”

“But Shepard-”

“Kaidan, we are not going to keep it.”

“Him, Shepard. It’s a him.”

“Either way, he’s not staying.”

A sigh of defeat escaped the second human Spectre’s lips as he looked on at his pregnant lover with what appeared to be pleading earnest in his eyes. Cradled in his arms was a small, tired, eleven-month old German Shepherd. In front of them in casual clothing stood Commander Elyanna Shepard, who was clearly not in favor of adopting the delicate little puppy.

“Why not?” Kaidan asked her, in a tone that sounded as though he were a child begging for a toy.

“I just don’t think that we’re ready to properly take care of a dog. Besides, we’ve already got a little one on the way and we’ll have to worry about her too,” Shepard responded, her gaze never wavering and her commanding tone never faltering.

Unfortunately for her though, Kaidan’s insistent tone didn’t falter either.

“We’ll figure it out, Shepard. We always do. Besides, we’re going to need a guard dog for when the baby arrives,” Kaidan insisted. At the loud noise, the puppy in his arms began to squirm slightly, before relaxing as blissful sleep once again overtook it.

Despite her inner desire to not adopt the puppy, Shepard admitted to herself that the puppy was quite cute. Shepard noticed that the puppy’s fur stuck in spikes at the top of his head while his eyes fluttered open and shut as the poor thing teetered between consciousness and blissful sleep. His ears were flat and stuck to his ears as if he was trying to block the sound being emitted from the two adults in the room.

“I’m pretty sure that the two of us will be enough to protect our kid, Kaidan,” countered Shepard, “Remember, we’ve stopped a geth army, defeated the Collectors, and destroyed the Reapers. I think we’ll be able to handle anything from here on out.” After that, Shepard yawned and turned back to the kitchen, where she was beginning to prepare breakfast.

Following after her, Kaidan only continued speaking, “Technically, I wasn’t there to defeat the Collectors, remember?”

“Doesn’t matter, Kaidan. What does matter is that we’re not going to adopt that dog.”

Kaidan opened his mouth to protest once more, only to be interrupted by the sudden sound of beeping from his omni-tool. Kaidan opened his omni-tool and answered the call immediately.

The familiar voice of their turian friend Garrus Vakarian resounded through the omni-tool, speaking in a composed voice with a slight undertone of humor, “Kaidan, I need some help over here. Joker drank more than he could handle and he’s causing a ruckus over in the Zakera Wards. He insists that I don’t touch him with my creepy alien claws, as he’s calling them.”

Sighing in acceptance, Kaidan responded through the omni-tool, “Yeah, I’m on my way now.” He shut off his omni-tool afterward and shot an apologetic look in Shepard’s direction before looking down at the sleeping puppy in his arms.

Shepard immediately knew what he wanted from her. “Go on, I’ll watch him for a little bit until you get back. He goes to the animal shelter the second you get back though.”

“You sure, Shepard?”

“Why not? He’s sleeping anyway.”

A smile developed on the face of Kaidan Alenko as he placed the puppy on the couch in front of the fireplace. Then, he stepped forward to press a grateful kiss to Shepard’s cheek before exiting the apartment, waving goodbye to his wife as he did so.

When Kaidan left, Shepard directed her gaze to the sleeping German Shepard in the apartment with her, expressing a sigh. Shepard sat down on the couch next to the puppy, careful not to disturb the puppy’s slumber. The couch dipped down slightly at the added weight, causing the puppy to stir somewhat, before slackening once again.

The commander seemed to contemplate a decision for a few moments, before speaking out loud to herself, “The little guy’s asleep anyway. How much trouble can he get into?”

At that, Shepard kicked her slippers off before placing her legs on the couch, taking up all of the non-occupied space as she stretched her body out to a comfortable position. The red-haired vixen leaned her head back on the armrest of the couch before closing her eyes and allowing herself to fall into a blissful silence.

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately for Commander Shepard, the blissful silence did not last.

Not twenty minutes later, the puppy woke up from its slumber. It didn’t take long afterwards for Shepard to realize that the whole “sleeping beauty” act was a facade. When awake, the puppy seemed to be everything except calm.

Shepard awoke abruptly from her twenty-minute nap at the painfully uncomfortable feeling of something small on her stomach. She tilted her head upwards to see what was causing it, only to lock eyes with the German Shepherd that Kaidan had brought home. The two had a standoff of stares for a few seconds, the German Shepherd cocking its head to the side as it stared intently into Shepard’s eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the puppy let out a bark and kicked off of Shepard’s stomach and onto the floor, eliciting a grunt of discomfort from the commander.

“Hey!” Shepard cried out as the dog began running tirelessly around the apartment. Meanwhile, the brown and black puppy barked in excitement and joy as he explored his new surroundings. In the puppy’s elation, the tiny thing failed to notice the mess of mud it trailed behind him on the hardwood floor below. It seemed as though he had done some adventuring outside before Kaidan found him.

“Get back here, you’re making a mess!” Shepard called out in a feeble attempt to stop the dog’s actions. The commander of the Normandy ran as fast as she could after the dog but the dog was an elusive and lithe one, constantly dodging and weaving just out of her grasp.

The chase ended up continuing for a good five minutes. Shepard, with her stamina levels not being as high as they were when she wasn’t pregnant, was completely out of breath by the time the dog decided to take a break. The sat down on the couch, her chest heaving in and out as she slowly regained her breath.

Meanwhile, the dog’s running had slowed down to a leisurely walk. The mischievous puppy strolled about the apartment, sniffing and prodding at everything it could find. He even climbed up on chairs and tables to poke at things that he could not reach by himself. Shepard paid no heed to the hound’s antics until he climbed up a chair and began prodding at something that held a good amount of sentimental value to Shepard.

She shot up from her seat immediately and shouted, “Don’t touch those!”

The tattered dog tags of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams hung loosely off of the dog’s mouth. The dog’s ears flattened against his head upon hearing Shepard yell and a whimper escaped from his lips as he let the dog tags fall to the ground. Shepard swiftly snatched the dog tags from the ground and held it tightly in her fist. When Shepard fixated her gaze back to the puppy, she was met with the sight of the canine lying on the ground and whining softly. As Shepard stared at the puppy, she found that she could closely relate the puppy’s behavior to that of a child after getting in trouble by their parents.

Shepard sighed softly and made her way back to the puppy. Her hand left her side and hovered hesitantly above the puppy’s head for a few moments before settling on top of his head gently. The puppy’s eyes stared back at Shepard with unwavering focus as Shepard awkwardly scratched the puppy behind the ears. At this point, he had stopped whining completely.

“Sorry. It’s not you, it’s just… That thing means a lot to me,” Shepard murmured to the puppy as though he could understand her words. The puppy sat up at Shepard’s words, cocking his head in curiosity. Shepard smiled softly and placed the dog tags in the pocket of her sweatpants before lifting the puppy into her arms and making her way over to the couch again. She placed the puppy on the couch and sat next to the canine. Shepard retrieved the dog tags from her jacket pocket and silently gazed at it for a few moments before the dog reclaimed her attention by nudging her hand with his nose.

“Do you know who these dog tags belong to?” Shepard asked out loud, the dog only cocking his head in response. “These dog tags belonged to a woman named Ashley Williams. She was a strong, confident, passionate, and opinionated person. She was also a good friend of mine, until…” Shepard’s words trailed off and as if the puppy could sense the sensitivity of the subject, the puppy whined and laid his head on Shepard’s knee. Shepard chuckled at the kind gesture and rubbed the dog’s head, this time with less hesitance.

“You know, you’re not that bad, little guy. You could use a little bit of training, though,” Shepard said to the pup, laughing a little when the dog barked happily in reply. All of a sudden, a yawn escaped Shepard’s lips. “I think I’m going to get some sleep,” Shepard said in a tired voice as she laid her body down and stretched her body across the entirety of the couch. Meanwhile, the puppy was situated in the small space in front of Shepard’s stomach, as if he were protecting the miracle held within.

Shepard only smiled at the thought before drifting off to sleep once again.

 

* * *

 

Approximately an hour later, the sound of the entrance opening and closing resounded, accompanied with the voice of Kaidan Alenko.

“Sorry it took so long Shepard, Joker managed to break a few bones during his drunken shenanigans. Garrus and I had to take him to the hospi-” Kaidan cut himself off at the sight of two sleeping Shepards on the couch. One of which was the puppy and the other was Kaidan’s loving wife, Commander Shepard.

The smile that appeared on Kaidan’s face was instantaneous. Few people had the privilege to see Shepard in such a calm and tranquil state. Kaidan was just grateful that he was the only one who could see her like this.

Kaidan then redirected his gaze to the obvious muddy paw prints scattered across the floor of the apartment. It looked like the puppy had been up to shenanigans of his own while Kaidan was gone. He internally hoped that the little guy hadn’t given Shepard too much trouble.

Kaidan’s train of thought was interrupted by Shepard sitting up on the couch and saying, “Hey, you’re back.”

“Yeah, I just got back. Did the little guy give you too much trouble?”

Shepard chuckled and looked at the sleeping puppy before replying, “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

The next few moments were filled with silence until Kaidan broke it by saying, “Well, I think the animal shelter should still be open. I could head there right now if you wan-”

“No, I think we’re good.”

The confused Canadian stared at his wife for a couple of seconds as his mind registered what she had just said. “Wait, what?”

“I mean, we could adopt him. The fella’s grown on me in the past few hours.”

The smile on Kaidan’s face stretched even wider if possible and he walked over to his wife to press his lips to hers. Shepard kissed him back immediately, her hand lifting up to cup his cheek as they kissed. Kaidan truly hadn’t expected her to change her mind so quickly. Shepard wasn’t a person whose opinion changed constantly. Usually when she made a decision, there was no turning back.

The two pulled apart after a few moments. “Well, if he’s going to stay, he’s going to need a name. Got any ideas?” Kaidan asked as he took a seat next to her on the couch.

Shepard’s gaze drifted to the puppy beside her before saying, “How about we name him Ash?”

Kaidan stared at her in surprise and he held her gaze for a few moments, before a small smile appeared on his face.

“Ash, huh?” Kaidan said out loud as he fixated his gaze on the puppy. “It’s perfect.”


End file.
